Forever and Always
by WinterRose02
Summary: Some people think love doesn't exist in a cruel world. Is there really only hatred and death in the world of Panem? Will there ever be love in a world full of hate? Follow as Katniss realizes her feeling for Peeta sooner. Maybe things really can get better for Katniss and Peeta. Maybe they can love in a world without hate.Takes place after first games and leads into Post-Mockingjay
1. Chapter 1: Regret

**A/N: ANOTHER NEW STORY!**

 **So, this is an idea I've had for a really really really long time, before I even knew about FanFiction. In fact, I got this idea after watching the Hunger Games for the first time which was like 2 or 3 years ago and I've been thinking about it ever since then. So here you go.**

 **I will update 'Soccer Love' and 'The Boy with the Bread' but I am very stumped on those stories right now. I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next, so if you have ideas or if you want me to add something to any of those stories (Quotes, scenes, anything) just PM me and let me know and I'll try my best to add it in to any of the stories just to give me a little boost.**

 **I probably won't update 'Mockingjay Captured' for a couple more weeks. I just need to get some fresh thoughts in for that story. Sorry.**

 **Okay, I need to stop talking! Let's get started with the story!**

 **WILDLY OOC KATNISS!**

 **Chapter 1**

A week ago I told Peeta I didn't love him. That I, in fact, only acted like that to survive. But I lied. The truth is, after that first kiss in the cave I didn't feel anything and even then it was only an act of survival. But as I really got to know him in that cave and even as we were fighting Cato together, I knew I needed this boy in my life.

When I found Peeta by the river, wounded and dying, a fear consumed me that seemed older than time. But, then I wasn't in love all I knew was that I needed to save him, because he had done the same for me more than I could say. But once I did realize that I loved him and truly couldn't live without him, I did what ever I could do keep him alive. Not because I felt like I owed him something, but because I loved him.

But I could never confront him after what I had done to him. His poor soul is probably crushed because of how stupid I was. But I was too scared, too naive, to tell him the truth. Too scared to be able to have something like him in my life. Knowing he could be taken away at any second and if something happened to him and I couldn't save him, or if it was even my fault, I could never forgive myself. I don't want something that could be taken from me and never be given back.

Prim has definitely noticed my melancholy mood in the past week. I thought she was going to just think that it was just the pain of the after games, but I guess she knows me all too well. Whenever she asks me what's wrong I always tell her the same thing.

"It's just the games," I say every time. "I'll get over it."

But even though I know part of it is true, it is still a lie. Not a half-lie or part-truth, but a full on lie and it always makes me feel guilty whenever I tell her this because I hate lying to her. She deserves better than that. So, yes, it takes me a whole week to finally tell her the truth. But I didn't tell her until she had asked this morning.

"Katniss?" She knocks on my bedroom door in our new house in the Victors' Village. "Can I come in?"

"Come in," I say simply.

"Can I talk to you?" She asks taking a seat next to me on my bed. "I know something is wrong, and I know it's more than just the games. Will you please tell me?"

For the first time since I've got home I burst into tears. Prim starts rubbing my back, which makes me feel a little better but not much. I'm crying too much to talk so she tells me to take my time. After a few minutes I've composed myself enough to speak.

"I've... I've done something terrible." She doesn't say anything, just stares at me, silently urging me to go on. "I lied to Peeta."

"How so?" She asks softly, as if she spoke loudly I might shatter into a million pieces.

"After the game, I told him that I didn't love him... that it was all just an act for the games."

"I don't understand." She says. "What are you saying?"

"It wasn't an act." I sob. "I really do love him."

"But you told mom and I it was an act when you got home from the games." She states.

"It wasn't though." I say. "I really do love him... at least I think I do. It's all so confusing. I know I love him, but part of me is saying I don't."

"Which part do you believe?"

"The part that tells me I love him."

"So you must love him. You wouldn't think that if it wasn't true."

"But I'm scared." I tell her honestly. "I'm scared if I give in to anything like that then he would be taken away from me. I couldn't bare that."

"I think most people feel that way." She answers. "Like if they give into something it could be taken away or punished for it. But you shouldn't worry about that stuff. Think of it like this, you love me and mom but we aren't going anywhere. You won't lose us."

"But I almost lost you." I argue.

"Okay, bad example." She sighs. "Katniss, can I tell you the truth about how I feel about the situation?"

"Of course."

"I think you and Peeta would be perfect together, I really do." She smiles at me. "You are both scarred from the games, you both get nightmares from it. Maybe you just need each other to get through all this? Peeta is going through the same thing you are, I know it."

"You really think so?" I ask.

"I do." She says. "You two were made for each other."

"But I'm still scared." I say. "It's all too scary for me. What if he doesn't love me anymore? Especially after what I did to him. Who could ever forgive that?"

"I bet he would." She says. "He has loved you since you were five. Even after all those year, he still loved you."

"I don't think he loved me."

"Yes he did." She says firmly. "It's obvious that boy is in love with you. You need to talk to him."

"He'll never forgive me." I say. "How could he? I wouldn't forgive me."

"I'm sure he will he will forgive you." She says. "It's not love if he doesn't."

"Can't I wait a week or maybe two? To clear my head?"

"He'll be gone in two weeks." She says. "When he's gone you definitely won't be getting him back. You need to talk to him, he needs to know."

"I guess your right." I agree. "But when is the right time?"

"You could go right now?" She suggests.

"Now?" I ask surprised.

"Well when do you expect you do it?" She asks. "Right now is a good time."

"Okay." I take a deep breath. "I'll do it."

I change out of my pajamas and put on some skinny jeans and a green t-shirt. I grab my coat and shoes and head out the door.

I stand by his door, too afraid to knock. I find my hand on the door, knocking softly. I suddenly regret my decision and am about to turn around to go home, when he opens the door.

"Katniss?" He looks surprised when he sees me, but a faint hint of hurtfulness in his eyes. I don't blame him.

"Hey," I say quietly. "Can I, um, can I come in?"

"Um, yeah, come on in."

"Thank you." I say and enter into his house. His new Victors' home is now covered in his paintings and sketches. They all look beautiful, even the ones of the games are beautiful. "I love your paintings."

"Oh, thank you." He says. "So, what did you need?"

"I just wanted to... talk to you?" I stutter and end up making my statement sound like a question.

"Oh, okay. Why don't you sit on the couch and I'll make you some tea."

"Thank you." I smile, taking a seat on the couch. I observe every inch of his living room. From the floor to the ceiling. It has the same layout as my house, but his is cozier and more of a home than mine. I only consider my house as a house, because it will never be a home... never.

"Here's your tea." Peeta hands me a hot cup of tea.

"Thank you." I say.

"So, um, what did you want to talk about?" He asks awkwardly.

"I, uh, I..." How do I say this? _Hey Peeta, I lied to you back on the train. But I want you now!_ No! How on earth do you tell a guy you love him? I've never been good at this kind of stuff. "Well, when we were on the train I told you that I... didn't love you."

"Yeah, uh, you did." He says, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. I know what I said to him has crushed him to the very core, and I hate to be the cause of this boys depression.

"Well, I, uh, sorta, maybe didn't mean that..." I pause to recompose myself, but I'm too afraid to look at Peeta so I keep my head down. "I was scared to tell you the truth."

"And what's the truth?" He asks patiently. That's what I love about him, he's always patient.

"That I – I – I do... love you." I stutter. "And I don't expect you to accept my apology, I understand if you'll hate me forever now, but I just want you to know that everything thing that happened in the games was real. But I couldn't muster up the courage to tell you the truth and I'm sorry for that."

I expect him to say something, or even grab me by the hand and lead me out the door. But he doesn't, he just stays silent. I look up at him and see his face is covered in confusion and shock.

"So, you lied to me and left me here for a week thinking that you hated me?" He asks, suddenly impatient and harsh. "Do you have any idea what that did to me? How it made me feel?"

"I know... and I'm sorry." I say sincerely. "You could yell at my face or even throw me out right now, I deserve that. I know I was so stupid and being such a naive child. I should have never told you it was a lie, not to mention how harsh I was about it. All I know is that, I was stupid and I deeply do love you. I just hope, deep down in my heart, that you might not completely hate me. But I understand if you do hate me, I don't blame you."

"So, why exactly did you lie?" He asks, back to his normal patient tone.

"I was scared..." I say, but can't muster up the courage to continue. Until he asks,

"Of what?"

"Of... losing you." I tell him. "I just felt like love was a distraction from my motive, to survive. But after being in that cave with you and really getting to know the sweet baker boy I never knew was there, I realized that maybe love is a risk I want to take."

"So, your saying you love me? And you want to be with me?" He asks, still confused.

"Only if you love me back..." There's a long silence and I start to get worried that he won't forgive me as easily as I might have thought. Maybe I really did break him.

"Of course I love you," he finally says. "But after everything we've gone through, I don't know what to believe anymore. You lied to me once, how do I know this is any different?"

"It is different." I say. "I swear to you, on my sisters life, I am not lying to you. Last time was a mistake and I am truly sorry for that. If you don't believe me and don't love me, then I'll leave. I know I must've hurt you worse than I could ever imagine. I just can't stand the thought of losing you forever." I start to lose hope as the tears roll softly down my cheeks. What will it take for him to believe me? I don't know what else to say.

"Katniss," he starts. "I don't want to lose you. I really do love you, it's just really hard to believe that your even here. Thank you for the apology, I really do appreciate it."

"Please forgive me." I beg. "I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused you."

"I do forgive you." He says. Finally. I've been forgiven. "But I want you to promise me something."

"Yes!" I say. "Anything."

"I want you to promise to never lie like that again."

"I never will! I promise!" I say. He wraps his arms around me and I gladly hug him back. I start sobbing for about the thousandth time today. He gently coos me and tells me it's okay.

"Stay with me." I beg while sobbing. "Please."

"Always." He tells me. I smile at his choice of words.

"Thank you," I sob. "Thank you so much for forgiving."

"I'll always forgive you." He tells me. "Because I love you."

"I love you too." I say, my sobbing finally starting to ease down. Once I have stopped crying Peeta lets go of me. I look outside and realize it is now dark out.

"You should get home." He tells me.

"Can I stay here tonight?" I ask. "Please?"

"Okay," he smiles. "Do you want to sleep in the guest room?"

"No!" I say. "I don't want to be alone." I sound like a child, but I really don't care.

"Okay, well you can sleep with me?" He asks. "Unless that's weird, I mean we slept in the same sleeping bag in the games, so..."

"I'd love to sleep with you." I smile. Maybe if I sleep with Peeta I won't have nightmares.

"Okay," He smiles at me. We go up to his room and both get in bed.

This is the one night since the games that I didn't have a nightmare.

 **A/N: Hope you guys enjoy and let me know if I should continue.**

 **Okay, let me just say this, no they are not going too fast. Remember, they slept together in the games how is sleeping together now any different? And Katniss slept with Peeta in Catching Fire during the Victory Tour, so yeah.**

 **Don't forget to review, follow, favorite. Whatever all ya homies wanna do, I'll leave it up to you. But I would appreciate it. :)**

 **Again, I will update 'Soccer Love' and 'The Boy with the Bread' soon, but probably not 'Mockingjay Captured' yet, I still need a break from that story because I need some fresh ideas.**

 **Got suggestions? Leave a review and let me know.**

 **Love all you guys! BYE!**


	2. Chapter 2: He's a painter

**A/N: Hi guys! I'm back for another chapter.**

 **Thank you for the lovely reviews, I really appreciate all of them.**

 **Let's get straight into the chapter because I really want to start it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games. Sadly... all credit goes to Suzanne Collins. The true brains behind the Hunger Games. I forgot one of these last chapter... oops.**

 **Chapter 2**

I wake up in the morning to a faint knocking. I feel Peeta get off the bed and a minute later I hear someone downstairs.

I try to go back to sleep, but the birds chirping outside keep me awake. But it's worth it because the sound of the birds and the sun peeking through the curtains is beautiful and gives me an amazing feeling. The birds sound louder and I notice the window is open.

 _He always sleeps with windows open._

"Yeah, she's up here." I hear Peeta say as he comes upstairs, but there's another set of footsteps.

"She hasn't slept like that in a long time," I hear a female voice say. It's my mom? "How'd you do it Peeta? How did you get her to sleep like that?"

"I don't think it really had to do with me." I hear Peeta say. I feel them both watching me and I can't help but smile a little. "I don't think she's even sleeping." I hear him chuckling softly.

"Katniss?" My mother asks. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," I open my eyes and see them both in the doorway watching me. "What?"

"Did she sleep like that all night?" My mother asks Peeta. "Or did she wake you up with her nightmares?"

"No, she was sleeping all night." Peeta says. "Did you have nightmares, Katniss?"

"No," I say simply. My mother must sense my discomfort with her being here.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone."

"Would you like to stay for breakfast?" Peeta asks.

"No," my mom answers. "I've got work to do at home." I pick up on the word _home._ Though it's hardly a home to me, my mother seems to have found it more of a home than me though.

"Okay," Peeta walks my mom downstairs and I hear the door close as he comes back upstairs to rejoin me. "How did you sleep last night?" He asks taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"I had no nightmares," I say astonishingly. "I haven't slept peacefully like that for as long as I can remember. What about you?"

"I slept amazing," he smiles. "Thanks to you. I love you."

"I love you too," I never thought I'd ever say that to anybody, but Peeta makes me change my mind. He makes me show a side of me that I never knew was there. Gale never made me feel that way. He didn't make me show the good side of me, he just brought out the bad side, the side that made me angry and stubborn. But, being with Peeta makes me not want to show that side of myself and instead show the good side. For the sake of him and everyone I'm around.

"What do you want to do today?" I hear Peeta ask, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I wanna take a walk in town with you." I answer immediately. "I also want to stop by the hob while we're there."

"Okay," he smiles. "I wanted to get some new painting supplies and some things for baking."

 _He's a painter,_

 _He's a baker._

After Peeta and I get dressed, me going to my house to get clothes, we both head into town together, our hands entwined together. People stare at us as we walk by, like we're aliens or something out of the ordinary.

"Why is everyone staring?" I whisper to Peeta.

"Wouldn't you be if you saw two victors?" He asks.

"True," I say.

When we go into the hob Peeta goes over to the painting supplies while I look at some string for a snare I'm making.

"How much for this?" I ask the person running the stand while holding up a roll of string.

"Two dollars," the lady tells me. I give her the money and then go over to Greasy Sae's soup stand where I order Peeta and I each a bowl of soup.

"How's it going with the boy?" Greasy Sae asks me.

"How'd you even know we were together?" I ask her. Surely if Peeta and I started dating last night then people wouldn't already know about it.

"I just figured since you came in together." She says.

"Well it's fine between us, thanks for asking." She stares at me suspiciously. "What?"

"Your acting funny." She points out. "Not like your normal self, but happier. What did that boy do to you?" She says jokingly.

Before I get a chance to answer I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, Catnip." I hear Gale from behind me. I turn around and am face to face with him. "Where have you been? You didn't come to the woods this morning." This morning I was supposed to meet Gale in the woods, just like our other typical Sunday mornings. But I wasn't going to just leave Peeta right when we got together to go hang out in the woods with another guy.

"Sorry," I apologize. "I was with Peeta this morning so..."

"What were you doing with him?" He asks like it's any of his business. "You were supposed to come to the woods with me, but instead your hanging out with him?"

"Well, I don't have to come to the woods every Sunday." I tell him. "I just wanted to spend some time with him."

"Just like you used to spend time with me." He snaps.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"I haven't seen you all week." He says. "The only time I saw you was when you got off that train. Ever since then you've been... different."

"Well maybe being different is a good thing." I say. "I changed for the better, it's time you did the same."

"Change?" He snaps. "Change to what? Have you been looking around? Have you seen what the Capitol's been doing? There's no time for change! The only thing we have time to do is survive and changing who we are is not getting us anywhere. Out of all people I would have thought you would understand."

"I didn't like who I was before," I tell him calmly. "I was stubborn and rude. Nobody wants to be around that."

"It was him, wasn't it?"

"What?"

"He made you change, he made you do it."

"He didn't make me do anything." I defend myself and Peeta.

"You know, I never thought you'd be this way!" He says.

"Gale, this changes nothing between us," I reassure him. "I still want to be your friend."

"But I don't want to be friends." He tells me. "You know what I want! You don't even love him and you know it."

"If all this is about me and Peeta being together, then that's just ridiculous." I tell him. "We were friends, Gale, nothing more."

"Whatever," He says and with that he leaves.

"Gale..." I lost my best friend. The person who has kept my family alive for so long. The person who understood me. The person who wanted to spend time with me, even with as much fire as I had. All because of what? Jealously.

He wanted my love and I couldn't give it to him, because I don't love him. If I loved him I would've told him a long time ago, but I think back then I knew deep down that he just wasn't meant for me. Maybe I knew it and maybe I didn't, but that doesn't matter now. That's the past. All that matters is the here and now.

"You okay?" I hear Peeta ask from behind me. I turn around and see him. I don't know if he saw or heard any of the conversation, by the looks of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lie. "Let's just go home."

When we get home I take off my shoes and then watch Peeta untie his double-knotted shoe laces.

 _He always double-knots his shoe laces._

We make lunch together. I cut the tomatoes for the sandwiches while he prepares some cheese buns he had made the day before. Once we finish making all the things for lunch we take it to the meadow and have a nice picnic.

"This is nice," I tell Peeta as the sun beats down on both of our bodies. I lie my head in his lap while he plays with my hair, claiming he's practicing his knots but I know he just wants an excuse to touch my hair.

"It's perfect," he tells me. "Just me and you... forever."

"Forever," I pour our tea into two mugs for each of us. "Sugar?" I ask him. He shakes his head 'no'.

 _He never takes sugar in his tea._

After we finish eating I doze off on our blanket for a little bit while Peeta sketches me. I would normally feel self-conscious of anybody looking at me as closely as he does to do anything, but with him I don't feel self-conscious or nervous, which surprises me, but that's what love can do to a person.

"I wish I could freeze this moment," Peeta tells me. "Right here, right now and live in it forever."

"Me too," I tell him. "But then we couldn't see what the future has in store for us."

All the little things I've noticed about Peeta in this one day. Things I've known for a while and things that are so small and new to me.

 _He's a painter._

 _He's a baker._

 _He likes to sleep with the windows open._

 _He never takes sugar in his tea._

 _He always double-knots his shoe laces._

 _He loves me and I love him..._

 _Forever and Always._

 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, if you did let me know in the reviews.**

 **Don't forget to also follow and favorite this story, that would mean the world to me.**

 **I will update soon, for some reason I felt like the ending of this felt like the ending of this story, but it's NOT! There are tons more chapters to go, because I have SO MANY plans for this story! SO MANY!**

 **Love you guys and I hope you have a great day, and don't forget...**

 **May the odds be ever in your favor!**


	3. Chapter 3: Apologies

**A/N: Good morning, afternoon, night. IDK...**

 **Thank you for the follows! That's the quickest I've ever gotten that amount of followers, and this is only the third chapter. Not seeing too many reviews though, I'd love to hear from you guys because that would mean everything to me. I love hearing from all my peeps!**

 **Can't wait to start this chapter, so let's just get straight into it.**

 **Got suggestions? Ideas? Constructive criticism? Let me know. I want you guys to tell me how to improve my writing so that I can make it better.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this! All credits go to Suzanne Collins.**

 **Chapter 3**

I told Peeta about what happened with Gale. He told me I needed to talk to him because he didn't want to be the reason for our friendship ending and that we need to redeem our friendship together. I obliged at first, telling him that I didn't want to have to deal with him. He just reasoned with me more so I decided to to just listen to him and maybe I might be able to be Gale's friend again.

I go to Gale's house to see if he is there. I knock on his door and wait a few minutes before his mother, Hazelle answers it. She opens the creaky wood door, that has been worn over the many years of use. They could never get enough money to fix this old house. I feel bad but at the same time I feel there is nothing I could do about it, even with all the money I have. I don't think the peacekeepers would allow it.

"Hello, Katniss," she smiles politely at me. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if Gale was here by any chance?" I ask her.

"Um, no. He left a little bit ago." She says. "I think he went into the woods. Would you like to come in for some tea?"

"Oh, no, thank you." I tell her. "I'm kinda in a hurry, but thanks for the offer."

"Your welcome. Come by anytime you feel like it, I'm always here taking care of Posy," she says. "She got awfully sick the other day, I don't know what to do about it. She isn't getting any better."

"Oh my goodness! Well, I can send my mother over here." I tell her. "I don't think she can come right now, but I'll tell her right when I get home."

"Thank you, Katniss. Really, this means a lot. I was starting to get really worried about her."

"No need to worry, my mother won't rest until Posy is jumping around the house again."

"Thank you so much, Katniss. I can give you the money right now for your mother."

"No, no." I tell her. "You don't have to pay. My family doesn't need anymore money."

"Really? I'd feel bad making your mother do it free of cost,"

"No, really it's no trouble at all." I tell her. "My mother is glad to help your family in anyway. So am I."

"Well, thank you so much. I'm so glad to have met you all those years ago. Really, I wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't for you."

I smile at her, "Well, I need to go now. Have a nice day."

"Bye, Katniss," she says as I walk down her small pathway back into the roads of the Seam and towards the woods.

I get to the cut my father and I made years ago in the fence. I go underneath and stand there for a second taking in the small valley, that sorta looks like the meadow, that surrounds the forest. I then quickly run into the trees, trying not to be spotted as I enter into the forbidden woods.

I grab my bow and arrows out of the stump I always keep them in and then go to the spot where Gale and I meet, where I find him sitting on a big rock his back towards me.

"Hey," I say quietly, but loud enough for him to hear to him. He quickly turns around to see me.

"Hey," he says equally as quiet. "What are you doing here, I thought you'd be with your new boyfriend?"

"I didn't come to start another fight with you."

"Then what did you come here to do?"

"I just wanna talk..." I say. "Will you please just hear me out?"

"Fine, but make it quick, I have things to do." I go over and take a seat next to him on the rock.

"Me being with Peeta doesn't change anything between us, I want you to know that." I say to him. "I may not be able to love you the way you want me to, but I still do love you as a friend... as a brother."

"I think I overreacted a little bit," he tells me. "I wasn't being fair to you. If I really do love you then I would want you to be happy, and if your happy with him then I'm happy too."

"Really?" I ask. "Promise me you won't hold any grudges between me or Peeta?"

"I promise," he says. "I think I was just jealous and I shouldn't have been."

"I understand," I tell him. "I probably would have done the same if the situation was turned around."

"I can see you doing ten times worse," he jokes.

"Shut up," but I laugh along too.

"Thank you, Katniss."

"For what?" I ask him.

"For talking to me. I really do want to be friends with you, I just wished I didn't yell at you yesterday. You didn't deserve that."

"It's okay," I tell him. "I don't blame you, I guess it's just in your instinct to protect me."

"It is,"

After that we spend the rest of the day hunting, getting lots of animals and even making some new snares in our spare time.

"Thank you for spending the day with me," I tell Gale once we finish selling all of the animals in town.

"Just like old times," he tells me.

"Bye," I give him a hug and then run off home to Peeta.

I'm so overjoyed that Gale is my friend again. He's been my best friend since I was 14 years old and I couldn't stand the thought of losing him. Especially after all the trauma me and him have been through together. Losing our fathers in the coal mining accident and having to both take on the responsibility of taking care of our families at such a young age.

"How'd it go?" Peeta asks as I open his front door.

"Good," I tell him. "We made up."

"I'm glad," he tells me. "I made you dinner."

"Thanks, I'm starving." He puts a plate on the table for me and him and we both start eating.

"What did you two do?" Peeta asks as we eat the spaghetti he had prepared.

"We talked for a bit and then once we made up we hunted and then went to town to sell all the animals we killed."

That night Peeta and I sleep together, as usual. The normal feeling I get when he is with me returns. _Safe_. He's the only person I truly feel safe with. I've always felt safe with Gale, but not the way Peeta makes me feel safe. Peeta is the only one who can provide this safeness, this warmth. He's the only man I could ever truly love.

He's my boy with the bread, when times are hard he is there. I know I'll never come even to deserving the love this boy has for me. But I can try as hard as I can to amount to the kindness Peeta has towards me.

 _You could live a thousand and not deserve him._

He forgave me when I lied to him, took his heart smashed it and stomped on it. He protected me in the arena by putting his own life in danger. He almost died for me.

But what have I done?

All I've done is get him that medicine to heal his leg, but I was saving his life.

He's saved me life multiple times.

Well, I guess it's never too late to show how kind I can actually be to my boy with the bread.

 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter.**

 **I only got one review on the last chapter :( I know you guys can do better. I've got 11 followers so I feel like I should more than one review each chapter.**

 **What do you guys want? Longer chapters? More EVERLARK? More Peeta or Prim? Let me know, please.**

 **BYE!**

 **Wait, one more thing,**

 **May the odds be ever in your favor.**


	4. Chapter 4:Talking with Snow and toasting

**A/N: I changed my mind, I won't take a break form this story.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVEIW!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

 **Chapter 4**

I walk into my house after hunting and take off my boots.

"Katniss," my mother greets me. "Peeta is upstairs waiting for you, there's someone here to see both of you."

"Who?" I ask her, and then I notice two peacekeepers standing in our kitchen. "What's going on?"

"No questions," my mother says calmly. "Just go upstairs, in the study!"

"Okay..." I walk upstairs to the study, which is right next to my bedroom. I walk inside and see Peeta sitting at one of the chairs talking to... President Snow, who is sitting at the large desk. Why would he be here? Is he here to kill us? Did we do something to upset him?

"Ah, Miss Everdeen," Snow greets me. "How nice of you to join us, we were just talking about you."

"Mr. President," I nod my head politely. "What gives us the honor to be in your presence today?"

"Please, Miss Everdeen, take a seat." I obey and sit next to Peeta in the chair next to him. "There is something I'd like to discuss with the both of you involving a certain matter." He turns on the small projector on the desk and turns it around to show us a film from the games. Peeta and I with the nightlock, about to commit suicide.

" _Together?" Peeta says on the screen._

" _Together," I confirm. We put the berries up to our mouths and are about to swallow when a loud roaring comes over the speakers._

" _Stop!" Seneca Crane shouts. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I announce the winners of the 75th annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark."_

President Snow turns the projector off and turns back to us.

"There has been a lot of arguments about what this berry stunt was really about," he tells us. "Some people believe it was simply an act of love, however, I believe otherwise."

"What do you believe it was about?" Peeta asks calmly. How can he be so calm while we're sitting in front of a murderer talking face to face with him?

"I believe it was an act of rebellion." He says. "Although, I feel that since Katniss pulled out the berries it is more on her part."

"I wasn't rebelling, President Snow, I can assure you of that." I tell him. "It was only an act of love."

"Hmm..." he says suspiciously. "Mr. Mellark, I may be mistaken, but were you meaning to rebel in this matter? Or was it really love?"

"It was love, sir." Peeta says. "I swear it was."

"I don't believe you," he says.

"Well it's true," I say.

"I want you to prove it to me," he says. "but not only me, but the people of the districts. If they feel they have power then they will rebel, and we can't have that. Your berries act have brought them hope."

"It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by a few berries," I point out.

"It is, Miss Everdeen." He says. "That's why we need people like you two to keep it all in order."

"How do we do that, sir?" Peeta asks.

"If they believe your little love act then they'll think the berry act was for love and nothing more."

"So, you want us to make everyone believe we're in love?" I ask.

"Make me believe," he says.

"What more can we do?" I ask. "If we're in love then why do we have to prove it to anybody?"

"Katniss," Peeta tries to calm me but I ignore him.

"You can't just come to our home and tell us that our love is fake!" I say, getting angrier by the second. I really should just keep my mouth shut, that would be the safest way to go.

"Miss Everdeen, I could kill you now if I wanted, but I want you alive. So if you want to still be breathing by the end of the day then I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself."

"I'm sorry," I say solemnly. "If you want to be convinced then we will convince you..."

"Thank you," he says. "But I must get going now. I hope to see you very soon."

"We'll see you in a few months," Peeta says. "At the end of the Victory Tour."

"Oh yes, you will be there!" He says. "Well, I can't wait to see you then. Have a nice day." With that he leaves, and we're stunned to our seats.

"That was really risky, Katniss." Peeta tells me after a moment of silence. "You shouldn't have said that, you know what he could do to you."

"I know," I say simply.

"That wasn't very smart," I feel like he's angry with me for saying the things I did, but his voice is so calm and collected. "I don't want you getting hurt, but that's the kind of thing that will get you killed. Especially now, with everything going on."

"Do you think President Snow was saying there were uprisings?" I ask, ignoring everything he had just told me.

"Katniss, are you even listening to me?" He asks.

"Sorry, I wasn't."

"Are you listening now?" I nod. "Good, because this is important. You can't talk to the president like that, he will kill you. He may not do it himself, but he might send people out to do it if you aren't careful."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

"I promise." I tell him. "But how are we going to convince Snow that our love is real? I mean, how are we supposed to prove that we are in love? They can't read our minds, they only go off our actions and sometimes our actions aren't good enough."

"I think we should talk to Haymitch about it," Peeta says. "He'll know more about this matter than we do."

"Oh, like that old drunk has ever been in love!" I say sarcastically. "What would he know about this?"

"I don't know, but he is pretty smart when he wants to be, so talking to him about it and seeing what he has to say will be our best shot."

"Okay," I agree.

"Come on," he says back. "Let's go."

"Now?" I ask. "Why so soon?"

"We need to get this figured out as soon as possible." He says. "We can't take any risks."

"You're right," I feel like he always is. "Let's go."

Inside Haymitch's house it smells like throw up and liquor. His clothes are scattered everywhere and there is broken glass from here to there. We find Haymitch passed out on his couch... again.

"Haymitch," I say to try to arise him. He doesn't budge, so I say it louder. "Haymitch!" When he still doesn't move I got into his kitchen and fill a pitcher full of ice cold water. I go back into the living room and dump the cold water on his head.

"AAAAHHH!" He screams, jumping up into the air as I jump backwards. "What do you want?" He asks harshly. I see Peeta smirking beside us.

"We need to talk." I say simply. "You sober?"

"Now I am," he replies groggily. "What do you need to talk about?"

We tell him about President Snow's visit, telling him every little detail. We even explain to him that Peeta and I are really in love. He hadn't known yet, because we totally forgot to tell him.

"So, what should we do?" Peeta asks once we finish explaining.

"Convince him," he says simply.

"We know that," I say. "But how?"

"Well, how do you think you should convince him?"

"I don't know," I answer. "That's why we came to you."

"I honestly don't know," he says. "How about when the cameras come you just act all lovey dovey and stuff."

"Are you even trying? This is serious, if we don't convince him he might kill our families." I scold him.

"Well, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

I think for a second, then it hits me. Why didn't we think of this before?

"We could get married," I say. "It was going to happen eventually, why not now?"

"Hmm... it does make a statement." Haymitch says. "Peeta?"

"Yeah," he says. "We can do that."

"What will your parents think?" Haymitch asks.

"My mom will be fine with it if it's to keep us alive," I say. "She'll understand."

"I don't think my dad will mind," Peeta says. "I don't really care what my mom thinks."

"Okay, then it's settled." Haymitch says. "But when are we going to do it? I think Peeta should propose on TV, to make it more official."

"I don't want to do that," Peeta says. "I want it to be personal."

"Yeah," I agree. "That's more of a personal thing."

"None of your life is ever going to be personal again," he says. "There's always going camera's and reporters getting in on your personal life, that's what they do."

"What if we did a personal proposal and then did one on TV and pretend I never proposed." Peeta says.

"Well it's not much a surprise now," I smile. He smiles back.

"I still do want to have a personal proposal though," Peeta says. "Even if you do see it coming."

"Okay," Haymitch says. "You guys do that personal proposal thing and then the TV one."

After that Peeta and I leave back to his house.

"Are you happy with this?" Peeta asks. "The wedding, I mean."

"Of course," I answer. "I'll never doubt my decision to be with you. I love you."

"I love you too." We kiss on the lips, which is surprising our first kiss outside of the arena. I don't know why we kept waiting, but we did.

The kiss goes on for awhile until we both have to pull for a breath. Once we take a few seconds to catch our breath we start kissing again. I've never kissed anybody like this. Or anybody for that matter. Gale has come close to kissing me before, but he never did and I'm sure if he did it wouldn't be anything like this. Sweet and warm. The feeling of safeness returns. And only Peeta can provide that safeness, it will only ever be him.

"Do you think I can propose to you now?" He chuckles, I chuckle too and nod my head. "Katniss Everdeen, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Peeta, I will." I smile. I knew this was coming, but hearing the words send a wave of shock through my body and makes me want Peeta even more. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He says. "Forever..."

"And always," I finish for him. I feel all mushy, talking like this. I never thought I would say anything like that to anyone, as I have thought many times before. But I feel happy saying it, I feel whole. Because Peeta is my other half, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Even with all the money I have, it could never pay for anything better than this. No amount of money, friends, or fame could ever be better than being with Peeta right here, right now.

I fall asleep without knowing it, but I felt the warmth of Peeta's arms the whole time.

" _No!" I scream. I think I'm in a nightmare, but it seems all to real. Too powerful. "Please! Don't hurt him! PLEASE! Take me instead! Take me! Please, don't hurt him, I love him." I don't know what I'm screaming about, all I see is darkness, but I can't stop._

" _Miss Everdeen," his snake-like voice fills the air. "It's the things we love the most... that destroy us."_

" _No!" I'm sobbing, my face is so wet that it feels like I had been sobbing for awhile, but I only just now realize it._

 _I hear a gunshot and I know he is dead._

 _The pain is beating on me like a drum... I couldn't protect him. I couldn't do anything and now he is dead._

 _Suddenly his body appears in front of me. He is lying in a pool of blood and is as white as a ghost._

" _No!" I scream. I try to run to him but I can't move. "PEETA! PEETA, COME BACK TO ME! PLEASE! PLEASE, YOU PROMISED YOU'D STAY WITH ME! YOU PROMISED!"_

" _Miss Everdeen..." I hear Snow again. "I am so sorry about your loss, but maybe now you can focus more on stopping the uprisings."_

" _You did this to him!" I scream. "You killed him and everyone I ever loved! I will never do anything for you."_

" _I'm sorry, Miss Everdeen, but you know that you never get a choice."_

I bolt awake to Peeta shaking me.

"Katniss, wake up! Wake up,"

I'm still screaming from the terrible nightmare I had just witnessed. That was the first one in a week, ever since I started sleeping with Peeta I didn't get nightmare. But I guess even the most beautiful dream catcher can't catch all your nightmares. Some are too strong for the dream catcher and ends up breaking it instead staying put.

"It's okay," Peeta soothes me. "It wasn't real, it's all okay."

"He killed you!" I sob. "You didn't come back to me! You promised you'd stay with me, but you didn't!"

"It's okay," he tells me over and over again until I start to believe it. "I'm okay, we're okay. Everything's fine. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" I ask.

"I promise." He says. "I promise I'll never leave you alone. I promise you'll never be lonely."

"Thank you," I cry. "No one's ever been as nice to me as you are. I am so lucky to have you."

"I love you," he says.

"I love you too," I say. "So so much! Please, Peeta, I don't want to wait! Let's get married right now before it's too late! Please!"

"Right now?" He asks. "It's three in the morning."

"Please," I beg. "Just the toasting! We can get the papers signed tomorrow to make it official. Please! Marry me!"

"Of course!"

We both run downstairs together, racing to the kitchen. Peeta pulls out the ingredients for nut and raisin bread, the same kind he gave me that one day in the rain when he saved my life.

I go over to the fireplace and start up and big fire with lots of wood. I smell the sweet aroma of Peeta's bread. I sit by the fire and warm my hands until Peeta comes in with two pieces of bread and a wedding ring.

"When did you get that?" I ask him, eyes wide.

"A few days ago," he says handing the ring to me so I could get a closer look at it. It has a small diamond on top, because he knows I don't like big diamonds. The rest of it looks plain and beautiful, but when I turn it over I find the word _Always_ inscribed on the silver band. "I didn't think I would be putting it on your finger this soon, but yeah, this works." He chuckles.

"Peeta, it's so beautiful." I say, still staring at the ring as it shines in the fire light. "Thank you so much, I love it." He just smiles at me and kisses my cheek. "I love you Peeta, but save the kisses for when we finish our vows." I joke. He laughs.

He then takes two sticks, that I think he got from the backyard, and puts a piece of bread on each one. He hands me one of the sticks and then he starts with his vows, which we are both just saying from the tops of our heads, but I feel like it makes it more personal.

"Katniss Everdeen," Peeta starts. "I have loved you since I was five years old. Ever since I saw you on that first day I knew I had to marry you. Even then I knew you were the one for me. I promise you I will always love you, always tell you the truth, and never leave you. I promise these things plus many more. I love you, Katniss Everdeen and I hope to spend all eternity with you."

I have tears in my eyes. That was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I know I can never top that, but I'll try my best to make it memorable.

"First of all, I want to thank you for that, it was truly beautiful." I say and then start my vows. "Peeta Mellark, I may not have known you for as long, but I know if I did then I would have fallen in love with you. I love you so much and I promise to spend every possible moment with you until my last breath. I promise you'll never be lonely, and that you and I will be with each other forever and always. I love you so much and I am proud to call you my soon-to-be-husband."

Peeta smiles at me.

"You ready?" He asks. I nod. "Are you sure you want to? We don't have to if you don't want to."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I say. "I love you!"

"I love you too," He smiles and we both count to three before putting our breads into the fire. We then put the burnt piece of bread in our mouths and chew. Now, we are husband and wife.

We feel the need to give a long, lingering kiss to make it even more official.

"I love you, Mr. Mellark." I say staring into his bright blue that sends sparks through my body like fireworks.

"I love you, Mrs. Mellark."

"Forever and Always," we say together.

 **A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That was sweet, I got tears writing it because it was it was so cute!**

 **Remember, I am only 13 so I've never been in a romantic relationship. I have a boyfriend but I would hardly call it a romantic relationship. So... yeah.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, this was an extra long chapter and I plan to make more chapters this long.**

 **BYE!**


	5. Chapter 5: Telling the family

**A/N: You guys did great on the reviews! Thank you for all of them, I really appreciated it.**

 **I just got a new kitten, so it's makes it hard to write because I have to watch my kitten and make sure she ain't doin' nothin' mischievous. I also have a dog, so I have to keep the two away from each other because they absolutely HATE each other.**

 **Well, enough chit-chat, let's start the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins because she rocks. :)**

 **Chapter 5**

The day after Peeta and I have the toasting we go to the Justice Building to get the papers signed so we will be officially married. I feel overjoyed when I sign the paper _Katniss Mellark_. When we finish signing the paper we ask the mayor if we could keep the wedding a secret.

"Why would you want to keep it a secret?" He asks us.

"We just want our family knowing for now," Peeta says, but really we are just waiting for the right time to announce it. We decided not to do a public proposal or wedding. We feel like being married is enough and we have the public records to prove it. We don't need some Capitol wedding to prove to Snow that Peeta and I are truly in love.

"Are you nervous?" Peeta asks as we walk to my mom and Prim's house after getting the papers signed. I had moved in with Peeta, officially, the morning we had done the toasting. I didn't have many things to bring over, mostly just clothes, so it didn't take too long to move in. We had plenty of time to go to the Justice Building before they closed for the day.

"Yes," I answer honestly. I have no idea how my mom will react. I know Prim will be over the moon with excitement, but my mother doesn't share that same trait. Especially her being a mom, it is her job to protect me and I don't think her hearing that I went elope with Peeta will be what she has been dying to hear. Although, her ditching Prim and I, mentally, for three years isn't what most people call _protecting_. Her leaving Prim and I made her less and less of a mother, causing me to mostly not care about what she thinks.

But my mom isn't the one who really scares me in this situation. It's Peeta's mom. Peeta and I feel that we need to sit down with his family to share the news and take the conversation slow and steady.

"Hi, Katniss!" Prim squeals. "Hi, Peeta! How is it living together?" She asks lifting her eyebrows up and down.

"It's fine," I answer her exhaling deeply. "Is mom around?"

She nods and runs upstairs, where I assume my mom is. When they both come downstairs we slowly tell them the good news, not being too sure of how they will react. When we finish telling them Prim has a surprised with a hint of happiness, look on her face. My mother just stares at us both, I can't tell what she is thinking.

"Oh my God!" Prim finally lets out, seeming speechless just a few seconds ago. "You got married! This is so exciting! I can't believe it!" I giggle softly at adorable she sounds and looks. Her face is in a huge smile and her eyes glow like sapphires. "Let me see the ring!"

I lift up my hand and show her the silver ring on my finger. She keeps her little eyes on my finger, the same way I couldn't keep my eyes off of it all morning.

"Mom?" I ask, looking up at her, seeing the same blank expression on her face, similar to when dad died and she went catastrophic. "Mom, talk to me."

"Sorry," she says, getting out of her faze. "What were you saying?"

"Peeta and I got married last night," I tell her again.

"Wow," she says. "You two are moving fast. Are you guys sure your ready to take on this responsibility?"

"It was going to happen eventually," I say. "Why not now? We're in love so we wanted to make our love eternal." _Before it was too late..._

"But you two are only sixteen," she exclaims. "You are both too young to even know what you want in life." She doesn't sound mad, her tone is more of a concerned one.

"Mom," Prim butts in. "They found love at a young age, you don't want to be the one to break them up, do you?"

"I'm not saying I'm going to break you two up, I'm just worried that's all."

"Mrs. Everdeen," Peeta says after being silent the whole time. "Is it okay if we talk alone?" 

"Okay," she says and follows Peeta into the living room.

"Come on, Prim." I say. "Let's go outside for a few minutes." We both go out into the chilly but sweet feeling air and decide to pick the batch of wild primroses near our house. I stare at the bunch of yellow petals, reminding me of those crazy styles the Capitol wears. But nothing could ruin the thought of these primroses, not even the Capitol could ruin these beautiful flowers for me. The flowers that remind me of Prim.

"Why haven't you put primroses all around your house now?" I ask jokingly.

"Oh I will," she giggles. "These ones will go in the kitchen."

After a few minutes we go back into the house to see if my mom and Peeta are done talking.

"Are you guys finished?" I ask when I open the front door.

"Yeah," Peeta answers.

"Katniss," my mother starts. "I'm not completely satisfied with the marriage, considering your age, but I'll allow it." I knew Peeta would convince her, he always was good with words. "I know Peeta and you will make a fine couple."

"Thank you, mom!" I say, and run up to hug her. "Thank you."

"I love you, Katniss." She says. "I'm proud of you,"

"I love you too," I feel like I've never said that to my mom, I know it was long overdue.

A few hours later Peeta and I are sitting at home, still contemplating whether or not it's a good idea to talk to his family yet. We're both scared out of our minds of what Mrs. Mellark will do. I'm mostly scared for Peeta's part, since she is known for her abusive conduct towards her sons.

"We could wait a few days," I suggest. "Just wait to see what they think of me before we tell them."

"No," he says calmly. "I think they deserve to know sooner than later."

"Oh... sorry if I sounded like a jerk with that comment."

"No, no, you didn't." He says quickly. "I just think we should tell them, that's all."

"Okay," I agree nervously. "Let's do it."

 **(A/N: I'm scared of Peeta's mom, so let's take a quick break. I'm gonna go raid my kitchen.)**

… **.**

… **.**

… **.**

 **(Okay, I'm back... we're skipping forward to when Katniss and Peeta arrive at the bakery, because there's really nothing to show before that.)**

Peeta and I stand outside the bakery doors for a few minutes, still pretty worried. I don't know why we're so scared, it might be because I've never actually talked to his parents, only his dad a few times, and it's a little weird for the first _actual_ conversation to be about how I just went behind their backs and married their youngest son.

"Katniss?" I hear Peeta say.

"Hmm... what?"

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to come in?" He asks.

"Oh, yeah." I say entering the door he is so generously holding open for me. "I was just thinking." The bakery was closed because it was now dark outside and not many people would be coming around this time of night anyways, so Peeta had to open the door with his key since the door was locked.

"You do that a lot," he observes.

"Do what?"

"Think," he answers. "It's like the main thing you do in life."

"Well, there's a lot to think about," I say.

"You think a lot, but you sure don't talk a lot." He says, I can hear his joking tone. "Maybe you should start thinking out loud more."

"Mmm hmm..." I say. "And maybe you should keep your mouth shut more." I chuckle.

"Okay, fair enough." He chuckles. "Mom, dad, are you here?" Peeta calls out.

"Yes, Peeta." His dad answers. "We're upstairs."

Peeta takes my hand and leads me up the stairs and into the living room, where we find Peeta's parents. They had known we had gotten together, because it would be pretty hard to hide that fact now that we're living together.

"Peeta, Katniss," Mr. Mellark greets us. Mrs. Mellark doesn't look half as happy to see us though. "How nice to see you, come sit down." Peeta and I take a seat on the couch next to Mr. and Mrs. Mellark. "What can we do for you two?"

"We, um, actually came here to talk to you." I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking, but it's pretty hard to hide it.

"What is it?" He asks, though Mrs. Mellark stays silent. I glance over to Peeta, begging him with my eyes to tell them instead of me saying it. Peeta gets the message and starts speaking.

"Well, Katniss and I have some good news," he starts. "Last night we had a toasting... for our marriage. We made it official this morning at the Justice Building."

Mr. Mellark stares at us, I try to read his emotions but they are much too hard for me to read. Mrs. Mellark, though, doesn't keep her mouth shut.

"You what?!" She shouts. "How could you go behind our backs and marry this seam brat! You have brought shame upon this family!" She glares at Peeta and I, not breaking eye contact with either one of us. How does she do that?

"Mom, it's not a big deal." Peeta tells her.

"Not a big deal?!" She shouts back. "You went behind our backs, you didn't even ask our blessing and I'm sure you know what the answer would be!"

"Honey," Mr. Mellark coaxes her. "Calm down, let's just talk about this all together, okay?" He turns to Peeta and I and asks gently, "Why did you two get married now? Your both so young."

"President Snow told us that if we didn't prove to him that we were in love then there would be consequences." I tell them, my voice still shaking.

"Oh," Mrs. Mellark says, giving me slight hope. "I understand! You two don't really love each other!"

"What?" I say stunned.

"That's not true!" Peeta says. "We do love each other, so we wanted to make our love eternal."

"I don't believe you!" She yells back. "You two have never showed a slight interest in each other and now your married! I can't believe this!"

"Honey," Mr. Mellark says. "They didn't marry each other just for survival, they got married because they love each other. We should be happy for them."

"How could I be happy about this?!" She screams, causing Peeta and I to flinch. "You two can be married for all I care, but I will have nothing to do with your lives anymore! I don't want to see you two, I don't even want to hear you, I'm done!" She leaves the living room without a word, leaving tension in the room.

"I'm so sorry about her," Mr. Mellark apologizes. "She doesn't really like... anybody."

"It's okay," I answer. "I think I deserved it anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like I caused more tension in your family just by being here. I'm sorry,"

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." Mr. Mellark tells me.

"Kat, don't blame yourself." Peeta begs. "Please?"

"How can I not?" I ask.

"She's always been like that," Peeta says. "It's nothing new and it has nothing to do with you, it's her who has the problem."

"Mm..." I say simply.

"I'm again really sorry about her," Mr. Mellark apologizes again. "You two can come to the bakery anytime you'd like, no matter what she says. I'll talk to her tonight."

"Thank you, Mr. Mellark." I say.

"Please, call me John." He says.

"Thank you, John." I smile at him. "For everything."

"No problem."

"Yeah, thank you, dad." Peeta says. "We'll stop by soon."

"Okay, have a good night you two."

That night Peeta and I snuggle in bed together, just talking softly, not bothering to get our pajamas on or brush our teeth. We just enjoy our moment together.

"I love you," I tell him out of the blue.

"I love you too," he tells me. "And never forget that."

"I'll never forget it for as long as we live." I tell him sincerely. "I promise you we'll grow old together and when the time is right, maybe start a family."

"Really?" I feel his smile while I lie on his chest.

"Yes," I say. "We'll start a family... when the time is right. But not yet, the world is too cruel for that sort of thing right now,"

"Your right," he says. "It'd be too scary to raise a child right now. But someday we will."

"Yeah," I answer. "Someday."

 **A/N: I told you Katniss was OOC. She's actually agreeing to have children?! And she was scared of Peeta's mom. Peeta's dad's name is John, so you know what the next step is... to learn Peeta's moms name!**

 **Nonetheless, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I had loads of fun writing it for you guys.**

 **BYEEEEE!**

 **Oh... I almost forgot,**

 **May the odds be ever in your favor.**

 **P. S. I might update again tonight, so just stay tuned.**


	6. Chapter 6: A blissful day together

**A/N: Hey people's of the... FanFiction website? I don't know...**

 **This is a special EVERLARK chapter because I don't have much EVERLARK for this EVERLARK story. Why do I write EVERLARK in all capital letters? Is that how your supposed to write it? I don't know. :(**

 **Okay! Let's get started on this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, credits go to Suzanne Collins (AKA The Hunger Games God)**

 **Chapter 6**

The next morning is a blissful one. I hear the mockingjay's outside, humming melodies that I've heard often times. I feel the soft morning breeze on my bare skin coming through the open window. I smell the sweet aroma of Peeta's bread and realize he isn't in bed with me anymore.

I pull the silk robe Peeta laid out for me over my naked body and make my way downstairs, tip toeing as not to disturb Peeta. I pass his painting room and see the door wide open, paintings and sketches are scattered everywhere. From what I can see most of them are of me. He always seems paints me more beautiful than I actually am. But I know that's just the way he sees me. He sees me different than other people do and I love that about him.

"Good morning, honey!" Peeta greets me with a kiss as I enter the kitchen. Looking over his shoulder I see him cooking eggs and already has the bread laid out on the counter. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," I answer simply. "How did you sleep?"

"Amazing with you by my side,"

I chuckle softly, "Same here."

"What do you want to do today?" He asks, setting a plate with the eggs and toasted bread on it.

"Hmm..." I think for a second, trying to come up with the perfect idea. Now that Peeta and I are married we can spend the whole day together, and nobody can tell us we're spending too much time together. I then think of the perfect thing to do. The lake. "I know! But you'll have to wait to see, it's a surprise."

"Okay," he chuckles. "Can I do anything to help with this surprise of yours?"

"You could make a picnic!" I suggest.

"That I can do," he answers.

Once we both finish our breakfast Peeta prepares our picnic and I run upstairs to pack a few towels, a blanket and both of our bathing suits. I am about to go downstairs to see if Peeta is almost ready when I pass his painting room again. If I know Peeta, I know he'd love to sketch the lake. So I grab some of his pencils and a sketch book and stuff them inside the bag with the rest of our things.

"You almost ready?" I ask Peeta coming down the stairs.

"Yeah, just need to get the silverware." He answers.

"What are you packing?" I ask him.

"I'm not telling you," he chuckles.

"What? Why not?"

"Because your not telling me where we're going," he says. "Besides, I want to have a surprise for you too."

"Okay, fair enough." I smile and give him a peck on the lips.

We make our way to the woods. Once we reach the fence Peeta stops and just stares at it.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, concern written all over my face.

"Nothing... it's just..." he pauses, as if trying to regain his senses. "I've never been in the woods."

"It'll be fine," I tell him. "I've done this a million times."

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" He asks.

"Peeta, I've been in these woods since I was a little girl and not once have I gotten caught. Why do you think it'll happen now?" I ask, slight frustration in my voice that I tried so hard to hide.

"I don't know," he answers lowly. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Peeta, do you trust me?" I ask him.

"Of course I do!" He says, taken back suddenly by my question.

"Then you'll trust that I would never let anything happen to you in those woods. Besides, you survived the games, you can handle anything!"

"Your right, Kat." He says. "I'm sorry, I almost ruined our whole day for us."

"Don't apologize," I say. "Your just looking out for the both of us. Now come!"

We walk through the woods in mo rush, just enjoying the cool air. Peeta follows me closely, observing his surroundings, taking in every square inch of the place I run off to everyday.

"Do you ever get lost in these woods?" He asks me.

"No," I answer. "It's pretty hard to when you basically live out here your whole life."

"Everything looks exactly the same," he says looking to the trees. "I'd get lost if I didn't have you."

"I bet you'd be lost in more than one way without me," I joke.

"What are you implying?" He chuckles. "Are you saying I couldn't handle life without you?"

"Exactly,"

"Your right," he says. "I'd die without you."

"And so would I." I add. "I think talking to you that one night was the best decision I've ever made."

"Do you think we'd end up together if you didn't come talk to me?" He asks curiously.

"I don't know," I sigh. "It's pretty hard to say, considering we would still have to do the love act for the interviews. I don't thin that would make us much closer, to be honest."

"Why not?" He asks.

"I don't know, I guess just because we were _acting_ that wouldn't be very good for a relationship."

"I understand," he says. "But let's not talk about the 'what ifs'. Let's just focus on right now."

A few minutes later we arrive at the lake. The setting is perfect. The sun shines brightly on the clear crystal water. The flowers near the river have started blooming and the grass all along the river is so perfectly green. I look over to Peeta to see his reaction. He just stares at it, eyes wide with amazement.

"W – What is this place?" He asks.

"It's the lake," I answer. "My father took me here all the time. It's where I learned to swim."

"It's so beautiful," he observes, still staring at the perfectly blue water.

"I've never brought anyone here but Gale." I say. "It's special so I only wanted to share it with people who were close to me."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to teach you to swim," I tell him. "It'll be fun." I take the bag and pull out our swim suits.

"You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"In fact, I did," I say, showing him the sketch book I thought of bringing.

"Wow!" He says. "You really did think of everything." I throw him his swim shorts and we both put them on and then run into the water together.

"I love you so much, you know that?" He says once we are both deep enough in the water.

"I know," I smile. "You tell me everyday."

"And I mean it everyday too!" He says. "Your the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I love you too," I tell him. "So much! But I have to teach you how to swim now." I give him a kiss and then I start teaching him. When he first starts he doesn't really understand, but eventually he gets it. We are both pretty tired when we get out of the water and decide to eat our lunch.

We lay out two blankets. One to eat on and the other to lie on afterwards. Peeta takes out the food from the basket and see that he has packed sandwiches from the bread this morning and some homemade lemonade. Along with a few other small snacks.

When we are all filled up with food we lie down on the second blanket and Peeta starts sketching a picture of me and him by the lake, much similar to how we are right now. I just lie there in his lap, dozing off as he leans against a tree to keep us both steady.

"Peeta," I say after lying on the blanket for about an hour. "Do you want me to teach you how to hunt?"

"If your up for it," he says. "But you did just teach me how to swim, I don't want to feel like I'm back in school." He jokes.

"Oh, shut up and come on!" I say, but my smile falters the scowl I was trying to make. We go to my tree stump where I keep my bow and arrows for safe keeping and I show him how to position the arrow onto the bow and how to aim. He starts off much better than I did my first try.

"That was good!" I praise him. "Can you do it again?" He readies the bow and then shoots, hitting the tree he had just hit. "Wow! Your better than I was!"

"I doubt that!" He says.

"Believe whatever you want, Peeta, I was terrible my first time." He shoots a few more arrows and then asks if we can go back to the lake. I agree and we go back, holding each other tightly. Once we are back we both fall asleep on the blanket, only I am awoken by a soft shaking on my shoulder.

"What is it?" I ask sleepily.

"Look," Peeta says pointing to the sunset. "I didn't think you'd want to miss it." I stare at the sunset, watching the pink, orange and purple colors mix together.

"That's my favorite color, you know?" Peeta says softly, trying not to ruin this perfect moment.

"What is?" I ask him.

"Orange," he says. "But soft, like the sunset. Not like Effie's hair."

"It's a pretty color." I tell him.

"What's yours?" He asks.

"Turn around," I tell him. He obeys and turns his head to see the beautiful green trees and grass.

"Green?" He asks for clarification.

"Yeah," I answer. "It reminds me of my father, how he always loved the trees." I turn to him and realize he isn't staring at the trees anymore, but at me. His deep blue eyes sink deep into my soul, causing me to blush.

"I love you," he tells me. "And, please, never forget that."

"I won't forget for as long as I live." I say. "I love you too."

Our lips connect and as we are kissing the sun makes its way to the ground, making it now dark which somehow makes our kiss more amazing, more deep and precious. But the kiss doesn't satisfy me, because I want more. This is a hunger that cannot be tamed.

 **A/N: How did you like it? Let me know.**

 **I have to go now though, because I'm going to eat dinner, but I'll update in the next day or two. Probably tomorrow, I'm already planning out the next chapter.**

 **BYE!**


	7. Chapter 7: Doctor visits only to find

**A/N: You guys have done the impossible. You left me speechless! So here's what happened, I log onto Fanfiction and I have not one, not two but 7 NEW REVIEWS! I don't think that's ever happened to me before.**

 **A HUGE THANKS TO EVERYBODY! ALL MY HOMIES GET A SPECIAL THANKS!**

 **I love all of you guys! And I mean, no creepiness here because it's true, I LOVE ALL OF YOU!**

 **Keep up the lovely reviews, I love them so much.**

 **Now let's get into this chapter because it's an exciting one!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, as much as I would love to. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.**

 **Chapter 7**

I jump out of bed and race to the bathroom. Leaning over the toilet I puke up whatever I had eaten the previous day. I feel Peeta behind me as he pulls my hair back to keep it out of my face, rubbing my back in a circular motion.

Once I've gotten everything out from yesterday Peeta grabs me a small plastic cup and fills it with water, leading me to the sink so I can wash my mouth out.

"Thank you," I say.

"Katniss," he says. "Do you think you could be..." He doesn't finish, and he doesn't have to because I know exactly what he was going to say.

"No!" I say quickly. "There's no way!"

"Katniss, this has been going on for weeks..." he pauses, watching my reaction. "I think it might be a possibility."

"N – no..." I say, my voice wavering. "I – I won't believe!"

"Katniss," he says softly yet carefully. "I think you might be pregnant."

"Don't say that!" I say, pulling my head towards the ground, as if it would block out the words. "We're not ready! It's too soon!"

"We should take you to the doctor, just to be sure." He tells me. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions yet."

"Yeah," I say, my voice slightly cracking. "Okay."

We schedule a doctors appointment, and since we're so anxious to find out, we ask to be seen as soon as possible. They schedule us to be seen at two o'clock, which gives us a few hours to think about this whole thing.

"Even if you were pregnant," Peeta starts, breaking the silence we sat in for a few minutes. "Would you be happy about it?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly. "I didn't really want a child until yet. Not for a few years at least. After most of our popularity around Panem is gone."

"I know," he says. "But, if you are pregnant, then we can make the best of it, right? Our child will turn out perfect, no matter what."

"Yeah," I agree with a smile. "Our child will be perfect. But... I'm still going to be scared, no matter what."

"What are you scared of?" He asks, though I'm sure he knows, he wants to hear me say it.

"I don't want to lose him or her, you know? There are so many things in this world that could take this child away from us," I notice I keep referring to the child as if it were there, although we don't even know for sure if it is. "What about you?" I ask him. "Would you be happy?"

"Caring and loving the child my wife gave to me?" He says. "I could never be happier," his smile spreads to his whole face, causing those little dimples that drive me crazy.

"I love you," I tell him and crash my lips into his.

"I love you too," he tells me when our lips part, only to reconnect again after the next second.

We walk together to the small doctors office in town, but find ourselves stopping at the front door.

"Are you ready?" Peeta asks. I don't answer, I just stare at the door and then eventually start walking forwards.

The inside of the doctors office is really just an _office._ It's one room with a door, most likely leading to closet or something.

"Miss Everdeen, Mr. Mellark!" The doctor greets us. I know she doesn't know we're married, but I still hate hearing Miss Everdeen instead of my actual, legal name. "Hello! My name is Dr. Sage. Please, have a seat over here." She leads us to an area near the back with a bed and a chair. "Now, we're going to take a blood test to confirm if you are pregnant."

She takes out a syringe and some gauze. She wraps some of the gauze tightly on my upper arm and sticks the syringe into one of my veins, sucking the blood out. Taking the syringe out she quickly wraps more gauze on my arm, and taking the gauze off my upper arm.

"I'll just take this in the back and run it through the machine." Dr. Sage tells us and leaves to the door I had noticed when I walked in.

Peeta takes my hand, squeezing it tightly, telling me how much he loves me and it'll be fine whatever happens. With the look on his face, filled with love and devotion, I can't help but believe every word he says.

"Okay," Dr. Sage walks back in. "I have the results." We wait anxiously until she says, "You are pregnant, Katniss." She says more, but I don't hear it as my world starts spinning off it's axle. _This wasn't supposed to happen,_ I tell myself, _not yet anyways. The world is too dangerous to have children._

"Katniss?" Peeta's voice breaks me out of my thought. "Katniss, calm down. It's okay," I realize I'm hyperventilating, tears clouding my eyes.

"N – no! This wasn't supposed to happen." I repeat my thoughts out loud. "Not yet!"

"I'll give you two some time alone," Dr. Sage tells us and leaves to her desk.

"Katniss..." Peeta whispers grabbing a tighter hold on my hand. "Kat, it'll be okay. We have each other, we can get through this."

"B – but..." I stammer over my words. "It's too early," I say. "It wasn't supposed to happen!"

"I know," he tells me. "But there's nothing we can do about it now, except make the best of it. It'll be okay, we'll do whatever we can to protect this baby."

"You promise?" I ask him, unsure of how all this is going to turn out.

"I promise," he tells me. "Nothing is going to happen to this baby. It'll be the safest, most protected baby in all of Panem. I promise you that with my life."

"Thank you," I say.

"For what?" He asks.

"For promising me that," I tell him. "For promising me that our baby will be safe." I don't know how much I believe but I'm going to try my very best to believe it as much as possible.

That night when Peeta and I go home we sit on the couch together, staying silent. Just letting the whole day sink in. The more it sinks in the more I realize how scared I am. This is a fear that seems older than time, a fear that feels as if it won't do away. And it won't go away. I will never stop worrying about my little baby. Even when he or she is an adult, taking the world on by themselves, I will still have to worry about them.

I don't know my baby yet, not the gender or what it'll look like, but I feel as if I already know him or her inside and out. Thinking of how great of a person mine and Peeta's baby will be calms me, but not enough to stop the fear of what might become of having this baby.

"Your thinking about the baby," Peeta observes. "I can tell."

"How can I not?" I say.

"How do you feel about it?" He asks me.

"I guess I'm happy," I say. "But scared at the same time."

"I understand," he adds. "It's a scary world out there, which makes me all the more devoted to protect this child, no matter what comes to cross our paths." I smile.

"Me too," I say. "The thought of something inside me, a living breathing being, scares me. Because if something happens to this baby it's my fault."

"It wouldn't be your fault," he tells me sternly. "If I know anything about you it's that you protect the people you love. I know you wouldn't do anything to harm this baby. I also know that nothing is going to happen to this baby."

"How can you be so sure?" I ask him.

"Because I have hope," he answers. "I just hope I can pass it on to you."

"Peeta Mellark, I love you so much." I tell him. "I'm so glad that if I do have this baby, it's with you."

"I love you too," he smiles at me. "And I swear to you, I will love this baby just as much as I love you."

"That I don't doubt for a second," I smile at him. "And I will too. Mr. Mellark, you have my word that this baby will never have a lack of love... from me, from you, from it's family. I promise you, he or she will grow up in an environment full of love, no matter how cruel the outside world is."

He stares at me, not saying a word. And he doesn't have to, because I already know what he's thinking. He turns his words into actions, as his lips softly connect to mine, I know I am the luckiest girl ever. I have an amazing husband, a loving family and a beautiful baby on the way. Peeta's thinking the same thing because of his next comment.

"You know, I feel like the luckiest person in the world." He tells me.

"I was just thinking the same thing," I tell him. _Good minds think alike_ , I say to myself.

"I love you so much," he tells me for the millionth time, and I never get tired of hearing it either. Some people may think it's tedious, how much we express our love to each other. But me, I think differently. Expressing our love only shows more and more how amazing it is to have Peeta in my life.

"I love you too, baby." I tell him. "Forever and Always,"

"Forever and Always," he repeats as we both drift off into a sleep, still lying comfortably in each others arms, refusing to let go.

 **A/N: IMPORTANT! I'm setting up a poll so you guys can help me figure out what gender the baby should be. The choices are boy, girl or twins. If twins is voted for most then I'll have another poll to choose which two genders will be for the twins.**

 **Okay, so you may think my chapters are pretty short, but trust me I put a lot of work into them and all of them are always 5 pages or longer. So their not as short as you think.**

 **Don't forget to vote and review! BYE!**


	8. Chapter 8: Secret phone calls and names!

**A/N: Hey people. Sorry this chapter took so long, this is like my fourth draft, but I think I'm finally happy with it.**

 **I'd like to thank a few people who have been reviewing so much and their reviews deserve to be noticed.**

 **I'd like to thank pistonsfan75, morningstar115, everlark2004, HGfanatic, for the love of cullens, GeminiEyes Cammiexox, NessaPoo, 98Agent and Issy2606xxx. You all are amazing and you deserve appreciation for how nice you are.**

 **But I haven't forgotten about all my followers. Thank you all so much to everyone who has followed this story, it means the world to me.**

 **Now let's get this party started!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own the Hunger Games or the right to take credit for the creation of babies. Basically, I don't own anything in this chapter. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 8**

I try for the millionth time to clip my jean buttons into place, though being 3 months pregnant my stomach is getting bigger by the day. I didn't expect to start showing this soon, it just happened. I was fitting fine into my jeans yesterday, they were just a little snug and now they won't even button!

I groan loudly, taking my jeans off to replace them with sweat pants, which I usually only wear around the house but now I have no choice but to make them my regular clothing style until I can get some maternity clothes. I'm sure they sell them at the Hob, but I don't want anyone suspecting me. I haven't even told my mother or Prim. Peeta and I decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible, hoping we can somehow dodge the paparazzi that is bound to come if we share that kind of news with anyone.

If I think things are hard now, then I'm in for a surprise. Not only will I be lugging around a giant balloon on my stomach in a couple short months, which will be way too obvious to hide. We also have the Victory Tour in two months, which will be around my five month mark, so the moment we step into our first district of the year, District 11, everyone will know our big secret.

Just the thought of District 11 sends chills down my spine. My young ally, Rue, came from that district who died in a vicious and inhumane way, but the worst part of it all was that I couldn't protect her. Part of me realizes that if I hadn't dodged that spear then it would have gone into the place it was intended to go in the first place, my stomach. Only, I didn't realize Rue was right behind me. I could be dead now and maybe Rue could have won. But if she would or would not have won, what would become of Peeta? He wouldn't have survived by that river unless I was there. He'd lose too much blood.

I push the thought from my mind, not wanting to cause another crying episode which happen so often nowadays. But of course I have been having the other side effects of being pregnant like cravings and aching feet. The nausea has gotten better though, Peeta had gotten some pills for me to take to help with the nausea. I don't wake up running to the toilet anymore, just on some mornings when I'm really feeling sick.

I still have a fear inside me; a fear that seems older than life itself. The fear of losing my child. It's gotten better over the months but nothing but feeling the joy of my baby in my arms will tame that fear. Nothing but that can make me feel safe or sure about this whole thing. Peeta helps keep me going, but it will never be enough to calm my worry, not until I can see my child safely in my arms my fear will not be tamed.

My mind suddenly comes back to reality. I look around and realize I have been sitting here for who knows how long just thinking. I don't think much of it at first until I realize where I'm supposed to be. The bakery! Peeta makes me walk there everyday to meet him and so I can get some exercise since Peeta refuses to let me hunt unless I'm with Gale and he's in the mines today, so I obviously can't do that.

I quickly jump to my feet, heading downstairs to get my shoes on. I'm just about to exit the front door when I remember. I have to put my hunting jacket on to hide my stomach. I detach my father's leather jacket from the coat hook and throw it over my arms and then head out the door.

The nice cool breeze hits me first, causing me to shiver a little but I welcome the nice feeling. It feels like one of those perfect days I had spent with my father, out in the woods just me and him trying to get food for our starving family. Though we weren't as starved then as we were once the mine explosion came. I was too scared to go into the woods without my dad because I had never done it before. I eventually got the courage though, but of course it was still hard for my family. It's not now though; not in the same way anyways, we still have the outside world to worry about, we will always worry about the outside world.

I find myself at the bakery, realizing I got lost in my thoughts again. That seems to happen much more frequent since I found out about the pregnancy. I don't know if it's from the fear of raising a child or something else, but I don't think it's a pregnancy sign.

I enter the bakery, hearing the ding of the bell as I open the clear glass door. There is no one in the bakery but me; Peeta or someone is probably in the back. It seems eerily quiet, I've never been in the bakery when it is this silent. It's usually bustling with energy, hearing voices all around me and the clinking of dishes here and there. But it's not like that today. Everything's different; everything's silent.

"Be right there!" I hear a voice call from the kitchen breaking the silence that once filled the bakery, but once those words are finished it is once again silent, but not as silent as it seemed before after hearing that voice. But I think I know who the voice belonged to. Not Peeta, not his father or brothers but...

My suspicions are proven correct when Peeta's mom comes from the back wearing a white apron and shirt with black pants, similar to what the rest of the family always wear while their working.

"Oh," she says expressionlessly when she sees me, showing signs of grimace on her face. "It's just you," she makes an obvious point of avoiding me when she makes her way back to the kitchen without another word.

"Okay," I mumble quietly to myself, rolling my eyes slightly. Peeta either doesn't know I'm here or he just won't come out so I call for him. When he doesn't respond I go in the kitchen to look for him, which I don't usually do but if he won't come to me then I'll go to him. I see a man that I think is Peeta but find it's only Mr. Mellark – I mean John.

"Hello, Katniss." He greets me looking up from whatever cookies he was decorating. "What brings you here today?"

"I was looking for Peeta," I say with a smile. "Do you know where he is?"

He nods and points towards the stairs to the upper part of the bakery where his family lives.

"I still think Katniss has a right to know," I hear Peeta say when I'm halfway up the stairs. I don't hear any other voices, just his, so I assume he's on the phone. "I know, I know." He continues. "It just doesn't seem right to keep it from her... what? Of course I do... Okay, I won't say anything. But I have to go, I think Katniss is going to be here soon... Okay, bye." I hear the phone click and I continue my trek upstairs.

"Who was that?" I ask him when I've reached the top of the stairs. He spins around, surprised by my sudden appearance.

"Katniss!" He exclaims. "Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

"Who was that?" I ask again, getting a little frustrated.

"That was... nobody. Just writing down some orders." I know he's lying. I can tell. "Come on," he says. "Let's go down to the front and I'll make you some cheese buns."

"Peeta!" I scold. "Who the hell were you talking to?"

"It was just Haymitch," he admits. "We're getting a surprise ready for you,"

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" I ask him, sighing in relief that it was actually something big.

"It was a surprise," he says. "Until you ruined it,"

It still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I'm in no mood for arguing with Peeta so I just go along with it.

"Well now that I already know about the surprise then will you tell me what it is?" I ask him.

"Nope," he answers. "You'll have to wait and see. Now come on, I don't want the hot cocoa I prepared for you to go cold." I smile at him and take his hand as he leads me down the stairs.

The rest of the day goes by as a blur. I mostly just watch Peeta work, eat cheese buns and wait for him to take me home. When we do get home we both plop down on the couch, exhausted from the day.

"Katniss," Peeta says after a moment of silence. "We should start thinking of names."

He's right. I feel like most parents are on top of it and start thinking of names sooner than three months after you find out your pregnant. But then some people wait until they find out the gender. I guess Peeta and I are just in between.

"Okay," I say. "What did you have in mind?"

He's silent for a minute, I look at him and find him deep in thought.

"How about Rider for a boy?" He asks.

"No," I say. "Too serious."

"Um..." He thinks for a couple more seconds then adds, "Ryker?"

"Too close to Rider," I say.

"What do you have in mind?" He asks me.

"I like Rue for a middle name," I say. "but I'm not sure about a first name."

"Willow," he says suddenly. I think about it for a minute, but know I don't have to think because it's a perfect name.

"Willow Rue Mellark," I try. "It sounds good. So, Willow for a girl. How about boy names?"

"You pick the boy name," he says. "I chose Willow, it's your turn."

"Okay," I say, thinking. It takes a few minutes before I come up with the perfect name. Or, at least, perfect in my mind. "Rye," I say softly.

"Rye?" He says. "Like the bread?"

"No, Peeta Rye like the cat. Yes like the bread!" I half shout.

"Sorry," he says sheepishly. "I like it. Rye Mellark. What about a middle name?"

This one takes a bit longer. I'm not sure why but I can't think of anything good. I think of things from my past, plants, memories, people who are important to me. Maybe someone who has died trying to save mine or Peeta's life. I think of little Rue and then the man who killed Clove and saved my life.

" _Just this once 12," he had replied. "For Rue."_

That was the last time I had seen him. Killed by the mutts I presume. But still his memory should be accounted for. His death should be worth something. But is it worth? He didn't do anything wrong to be put to his death, yet I don't know what he's done in his past I feel as if he's done something worth living for. But I know, he tried...

"Thresh," I say. "Rye Thresh Mellark,"

Peeta seems to know exactly what I'm thinking. He's seen the tapes; he knows what Thresh did for me. He didn't have to, but he did. For the little girl from 11 who meant so much to me, who reminded me so much of my sister and who I see everyday in the primroses that grow out by the edge of the forest. That's why these two middle names for my child are perfect. Rue and Thresh Mellark. To make their deaths worth something.

"Perfect," Peeta tells me with a smile. "So, A girl would be Willow Rue Mellark and for a boy Rye Thresh Mellark,"

I nod my head, going deeper into the meaning of these names. The deeper I go into the meaning the deeper I appreciate it and the more perfect it sounds.

"I love you, Peeta." I tell him.

"I love you too,"

In the morning I wake up early, hoping to find Gale in the woods. It is Sunday after all, so he should be there. If he wasn't there I would either have to leave the woods and go back home or tell Peeta that Gale was with me the whole time. I'm not very fond of the second decision though.

I hop out of bed right before the sun peaks over the mountains, but try to be careful not to wake Peeta up. Instead of putting on my hunting jeans, which won't fit, I put on my black leggings. It's not the best idea to hunt in leggings but as of right now, it's all I have. I then add on my favorite hunting shirt and my fathers jacket, which come to think of it never became mine. It always belonged to my father and it always will; that's why I wear it, as a memory of him.

Before leaving I give Peeta a soft kiss on the forehead, luckily it doesn't awaken him so I slip out of the room leaving a note on the nightstand telling him where I've gone to and that Gale will be there so he doesn't have to worry.

The morning air is colder then it was yesterday. But I wasn't out quite as early yesterday; certainly not before sunrise like I am now. I put my hands in my pockets and push my coat together hoping it will warm me a little. It doesn't work quite as well as I had hoped when I watch my cold breath enter into the atmosphere; cloudy and cringe worthy.

I enter into the woods through the wired fence like always do, but throw a stick at it first to make sure it's not turned on. It never is.

The spot where Gale and I usually meet is empty, leaving a dark feeling of loneliness in my soul. I brush it off and grab my bow and quiver of arrows, but I won't be using them until after I check the sneers.

Only, before I get to the first sneer I hear a twig snap behind me. I whip around, bow and arrow already in place. I point my bow downwards when I realize who it is. Gale.

"Hey, Catnip," he greets me.

"You shouldn't scare people like that," I tell him. "I could've killed you."

"Eh," he brushes it off. "It wouldn't be much different." I know exactly what he means when he says that. It wouldn't be much different from the games when I had killed people. I feel as if I should yell at him, but am in no mood to do so.

"I saw some turkey's," he says. "Out by the edge of the forest. Past by me like I wasn't even there."

"How rude of them," I say.

"After a couple weeks without us out here they start to think they own these woods." He exclaims. "There was a whole flock of them, that's make a good meal for both our families."

Without saying another word I follow him to the direction he saw the turkeys. Once we get there I let Gale do the honors of shooting them. We hide behind a rock, hoping not to be seen, as Gale lets his arrow fly into the turkey's head.

Even with the nausea pills Peeta has been giving me, the sight of the turkey's blood makes my stomach turn and before I know it the cheese buns from this morning are on the forest floor. I've never gotten sick in front of blood, of course, but with this pregnancy I think it will be a good idea to stay away from anything of the sort.

"Are you okay?" Gale asks. "What happened? Why did you puke?" Of course, now he is curious, because if he knows anything about me it's that I can handle blood. I've seen it my whole life.

"I'm fine," I answer. "Just a little... sick."

"Are you sure?" He asks. "We can go back if you want." I can see the suspicion in his eyes; he's sensing something is off. About me and my health.

"Come on," he says not waiting for my answer. "Let's take you home." I obey, although I don't want to. I know I'm fine, it's just the baby. But he doesn't know that.

We're silent most of the way. He just makes small talk about how is family is doing until he asks a rather strange question.

"What did Peeta do to you?" I'm taken aback by his question, wondering what he may mean by this.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"Did he do something? Did he hurt you?"

"What?" I ask, half yelling. "Of course not!"

"Then why did you throw up when you saw the blood?" He asks me. I think I know what he may be thinking. He may be thinking that Peeta hurt me in some way and now I'm terrified.

"Peeta would never hurt me," I say, ignoring his question. But I know I can't keep this from him, I don't want to lose him like I did those few months ago. " _We_ did something..."

"What do you mean?" He asks when we make it to the fence and slip under. "What did you two do?"

I wanted to keep this from him for as long as possible. I wanted to keep it from everybody. But friends don't keep secrets and I know that. I don't want him getting mad at me. With as much fire that's in him, he would be bound to get mad over something like this. I've never kept secrets from Gale, he's the one I would always talk to, but why now? Why am I now scared to talk to him? Why is this so difficult? I've talked to him my whole life, and then when another man comes into my life I can't talk to him. Is that normal? I don't know. I hardly know what normal is anymore. Everything I do isn't normal. I married a man at the age of sixteen and got myself pregnant! I had a three AM toasting! I've done so many non-normal things in my life. Where is the normal?

"I don't want to talk about," I chicken out. I feel like I'm on the verge of tears, but I can't let my emotion show. Not to him. I have to be strong in front of him. I always have. I can't show weakness now.

"But you always talk to me! You always tell me everything! Why is it different now?" He's caught on. "Why is everything suddenly different between us? Why-"

"I'm pregnant, Gale!" I scream at him, cutting of his rambling. "I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do!" Right now, I'm glad no one is near us. I'm glad no one is disturbing us. Because I just spilled the biggest secret I have to my best friend.

"You – your what?" He asks stunned. "When did this happen?"

"Three months ago..." I say quietly.

"I thought you were never going to have kids?!"

"I wasn't planning on it... at least not yet." I'm still whispering, but I'm not sure why.

"Did he force you?" He asks. "What did he do?"

"He didn't force me!" I say forcefully. "We're both happy with this."

"But you two aren't even married yet!"

"God, your starting to sound like my mom," I huff. "You'd be surprised if you knew mine and Peeta's relationship status. Besides... I kinda thought you'd be happy for me."

"I... am." He says hesitantly. "It's just... a lot to take in."

"Well are you mad?" I ask him, being unable to read his emotions. I can usually tell when he is mad or angry, but other than that his emotions are always locked away.

"No," he says. "I have no right to be mad about this. I just worry about you, Catnip."

"I know," I say. "But you don't have to worry, I'm fine. But I want you to keep this between us for now, can you do that?"

"I will," he tells me. "I promise nobody will find out. I'll see you around, Catnip."

"Bye," We go our separate way, him going to town and me going home.

Looks like my plan of Peeta and I keeping it a secret didn't work exactly as planned, but I trust Gale won't tell anybody. We'll let everybody learn the news at their own time.

 **A/N: I combined 2 chapters together to make it longer, I was planning on having the encounter with Gale on the next chapter, but this works too.**

 **I hope to make the rest of my chapters this long or longer. But I'm working on it. I am only 13 after all.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed. And we ARE leading into the Victory Tour, but the next chapter we will find out the gender of the baby.**

 **Goodbye!**


	9. Chapter 9: The baby is a-

**A/N: Hey people! This chapter is going to be exciting because we find out the gender of the baby! SQEUL! I'm so excited, even though I already know the answer. But I'll let you guys find out now.**

 **As always, please review and/or follow/favorite my story. This is like an advertisement, but you can also check out my other stories, which all consist of Everlark or is leading into some Everlark.**

 **If you ever have questions, feel free to PM me. I always check my inbox and always respond to questions right away, so give it a whirl if you haven't already.**

 **OH! I realized that in... um... the chapter where Katniss finds out she's pregnant, Dr. Sage had called them Mr. and Mrs. Mellark. She wasn't supposed to know they were married! So, I changed it. :)**

 **Okay, enough talking, let's start this chapter off right!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. All rights go to Suzanne Collins. I own nothing.**

 **Chapter 9**

"Peeta," I nudge his shoulder as we both lie in bed. The curtains are blowing this way and that from the strong morning wind. The sun peeks through, causing our dark room to light up a little and the mockingjays sing their melodies outside. Melodies that are familiar to me, like _The Hanging Tree_ and _The Valley Song_ , all harmoniously combining together to make a whole new song. "Peeta, wake up."

He groans, "Just a few more minutes."

"No," I reply sternly. "We are going to be late. We still have to eat breakfast, I'm starving!"

"Your always starving," he complains.

"In case you forgot, I'm eating for two now," I remind him. "Now come on, we need to get ready!"

"Why?" He asks sleepily.

"We have an appointment today to find out the gender of the baby!" I remind him.

He groans again, "What time is it?"

"9:00," I tell him.

"We still have three hours!" He complains.

"Yeah, but I really want food!" I whine. "Being four months pregnant, you know I'm going to be eating ten times more. And this isn't even the beginning!"

"Fine," he huffs, but not angrily, he always seems to keep his calm demeanor even when times are getting tough. "I'm getting up." He slowly lifts his body off the mattress, leaning over to give me a good morning kiss. With my hormones driving me crazy, I can't get enough of the kiss and sink in deeper to it. Peeta certainly doesn't mind the extra attraction I have towards him.

"I love you so much," I tell him lovingly when we pull apart from the kiss. "You know that?"

"I love you too," he tells me. We stay there for a few minutes, just taking each other in. My stomach starts growling though, so it pretty much ruins the moment. "Come on, let's get food. I don't want my wife starving." He chuckles. I smile at him, thinking how cute he is when he chuckles. He gets little dimples right around his eyes every time, which always brings a smile to my face.

When we get to the kitchen Peeta asks me what I want to eat and I give him and immediate answer.

"Hard boiled eggs!"

"You hate hard boiled eggs," he points out.

"Well I'm craving them!" I tell him. "You better get used to it too because this is going to be going on for the next five months,"

He obediently takes the eggs out of the fridge and starts boiling some water. When the water starts boiling he adds five eggs into the pot.

"Peeta?" I say, "Do want a boy or girl?"

He takes a second and then answers, "It doesn't matter to me as long as it's ours," he's turned away from me, but I can see the smile on his face. "What about you?"

"It doesn't matter to me either," I tell him. "It'll feel cruel to wish for a certain gender. I'm happy with whatever."

"Here's your food," he says sweetly, handing me a plate of hard boiled eggs and two cheese buns, which he had made the previous morning.

"Thank you," I smile at him.

"Anytime," he smiles back, placing his own plate of food on the table.

When we are both finished with our food we go upstairs to get ready for our appointment, though we still have two hours. We decide to use the extra time to sit on the couch together, and try to keep warm during this cold day.

Peeta is silent as we lie on the couch, wrapped in each others arms, which is strange because he seems to always have something to say.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask him softly.

"You," he answers lovingly.

"Do you do that often?"

"Do what?"

"Think about me?" I chuckle softly.

"Only every second of the day," he smiles. I look up into his eyes; the blue electric that has sent shocks through my body so many times before, causing the same effect at this moment, I wonder if he'll still have this effect on me ten years from now. I want our love to last forever; I know it will, but how long will we look at each other in the same way we do now? Will our love ever fade?

"Peeta," I whisper, realizing the time. He had dozed off and is now sleeping _again_. "Peeta, wake up! We have to go now!"

"Hmm..." he opens his eyes. "Oh!"

We both get up, getting our shoes and coats on and then head out the door.

The cold, late autumn air hits me first. Much colder than yesterday; especially as winter gets closer. Winter has always been the hardest time of year. Not just for me and my family, but for all the district. With the birds in the south and all the critters in hibernation, there was no meat to eat. We always had stock up before winter started just to survive. But getting meat before winter would be bad because it would go bad by the time winter started, leaving us with only vegetables from the Hob. But that's all gone and past now; for us at least. We don't have to worry about that with all the money we have.

"Katniss?" Peeta's voice brings me back to reality. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answer and realize we are right in front of the tiny hospitable. Over the majority of this pregnancy I have been here for monthly visits to have check ups and go over things to do to help the baby and things to avoid. I feel as if people around here are getting suspicions of Peeta and I. With the baby bump getting bigger and our regular visits to the doctors, it's only a matter of time before someone figures out. In a few weeks the bump will probably be big enough that anyone passing by will know right away that I'm pregnant.

"Hello," Dr. Sage greets us. "How nice to see you two again. How have you been feeling, Katniss? Are you still getting morning sickness?"

"No," I answer. "I think it's passed. The last time I got sick was... three weeks ago, I think."

"Very good," she replies. "You haven't started contractions yet, have you?"

"No, not the I recall."

"Good," she says. "Those shouldn't start coming until mid-pregnancy. Now, come take a seat over here." She leads us to the usual bed nearing the back of the small one roomed hospitable. She already has all the equipment set up, ready to go.

"I'm just going to add this blue gel to your stomach," she tells me as I pull my shirt up a little bit. "It might be cold." She warns. As the gel goes onto my stomach I flinch, realizing just how cold it is. She takes out a wand that is connected with a wire to the ultrasound machine. A picture shows up on the screen. I see an outline of a head and a small body attached to it.

"There's your baby," Dr. Sage points to the screen. "Would you like to know the gender?"

We both nod our heads excitingly.

"It's a girl!" She smiles.

I smile, looking at Peeta to see his reaction. His eyes don't leave the ultrasound machine; the image of our child as his eyes fill with tears and a smile spreads across his face. My face mirrors his, only I don't realize the tears until he looks at me.

"Oh my God!" Peeta shouts. "That's our baby; our little baby girl."

"Our little Willow," I say.

"She's perfect," Peeta tells me. I think the same thing, even if we haven't met her yet I know she is going to be perfect... no, she's perfect now.

"She is perfect," I agree. "I couldn't ask for anything more." Even with the fear still inside me; the fear that will always be there, I still have this feeling of happiness. This feeling is the same as the fear though, because it will never go away.

That night Peeta and I put the ultrasound picture in the new baby book we had gotten a few weeks back. We place it on the very first page, as an indication that it was the first ever picture taken of our baby girl.

"Thank you," Peeta says as we sit around the house.

"For what?" I ask him, confused. I don't remember doing anything.

"For this," he says pointing towards my stomach. "Our baby girl. I know it's hard for you, you didn't really want it yet. But I couldn't thank you more for giving it to me."

"I'd do anything for you, Peeta." I tell him. "Because I love you,"

"I love you too," he tells me. "Always."

"Always," I repeat.

 **A/N: Yeah, I know, this chapter was short but there wasn't much to show. We were just learning the gender, so I didn't really know what to add in. But I do hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **And I was really tired, so I was just working with what came to mind. But I promise, longer chapters.**

 **I will update in the next day or two.**

 **If you do want longer chapters let me know and I'll start working harder. Also, let me know how long I should make them. Give me a word goal (amount of words I should aim for) currently my chapters are 1000 to 3000 words.**

 **BYE!**


	10. Chapter 10: IMPORTANT!

**Hey people. Sorry to say this is not a chapter. But you should read it if you want to know whats going on.**

 **So... um... I have some bad news. I'm done with**

 **I know, you guys are going to hate me for stopping this story on the brink of whatever happened last chapter.**

 **But don't worry! I am not done making fanfics. You can find me on Wattpad now where I have some new, interesting HG fics and orginal stories.**

 **I'm sorry about but I just need to move on form Fanfiction I guess. I've been doing it for so long, but now I think I like Wattpad. I still do love though. It's like my baby. (So I'm leaving my baby :P)**

 **But please do follow me on Wattpad and read my stories, it would mean a lot.**

 **My wattpad username is Winterrose02 (Same I know...)**

 **Thank you all for the support you gave me on this story and all my other stories. I really do love all of you and I hope to see some of you again on Wattpad.**

 **Bye... :)**


	11. I'm coming Back!

Hey guys, it's me, Winterrose02. I decided to come back to . I've been away for a while because I got addicted to Wattpad. But now I really just feel like mostly because of the amazing people I have met on here. I haven't written in a long time because I've been going through some rough times. But writing has always made me feel better so forgive me if I am a little rusty. I can't wait to start all my stories again and to hear from all you guys again. Thank you for reading this and stay tuned for more updates. Bye!


	12. Chapter 10: Forever and Always

Peeta started working on the nursery today. He won't let me see it yet but I watched him as he went into one of the spare bedrooms with handfuls of pink paint. Though he's doing the whole design of the nursery and painting whatever pictures on the wall that he'd like and all the furniture, we both decided on a mutual pink for the layout of the wall. You can imagine I was pretty surprised when I saw him also holding cans of green, brown, and blue.

"What's going on in there?" I ask him after about his fifth trip ouy of the nursery to grab more paint.

"What do you mean?" He asks with the slightest smile.

"What's with all the paint?" I ask. "I thought it was only going to be pink?"

"You'll have to wait and see," he smiles. "It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises," I pout.

"You'll like this one," he assures. "I promise." He leans in and gives me a kiss before heading back into Willow's nursery.

With Peeta working in the nursery so long I decide to get out of the house for a bit. After yelling to him that I'm going out I grab my coat and shoes and head out. With my belly being the size that it is, all of District 12 knows of the baby and I can't hide it now. Staying in my house, away from the world, is not how I want to spend my pregnancy and frankly that isn't healthy for the baby. So Peeta and I decided to let the district know. Though with everyone here knowing it's just a matter of time before the Capitol finds out. It's a wonder they haven't figured it out already. I guess they'll get a huge surprise when the Victory Tour comes in a month. Which is what worries me.

"Katniss!" Prim hollers.

"Hey, Little Duck," I smile, standing outside the School House. "How was school?"

"It was good," she replies with a happy smile. "We learned about plants and herbs that the are working on for the games."

"Nice," I smile.

"How's the baby?" Prim asks.

"She's fine," I say.

"She?" Prim asks. "So it's a girl?"

"Yep," I smile proudly. "Her name's gonna be Willow."

"Wow, I can't wait!" She exclaims. "So, I guess your officially all grown up now?"

"Yeah, I guess I sorta am."

"That's too bad," she frowns. "But I guess you've been grown up for a while. Ever since dad's... accident."

"I know," I say sadly. "But in the world we live in we have to grow up to survive. I'm gonna be honest, I don't want to live in a world like that, let alone raise my child in this kind of society. But there's really nothing we can do about it. Growing up quickly is all we've ever known. Let's not let it let the best of us then, okay?"

"Yeah," she says. "It won't get the better of me. I've grown up too. It's too late for me to feel bad about it."

"You should never have to feel bad about it, Prim," I say. "Sure the Capitol children don't have to grow up as soon as we do but at the same time we don't want to be like those kids. And if growing up slowly and having a carefree life is going to make us spoiled Capitol children then I don't want to be that."

"Me neither," she says. "But we have a better life now. We don't have to worry as much, right?"

"You betcha!" I say. "But our world is still cruel. Other people don't get the luxary we've been given. That's why we need to help those people as best we can. That will make us happy, I promise you."

"Yeah," she says. "Do you think we could stop talking about this now?"

"You read my mind," I say. "Come on, let's go do something."

"Like what?" Prim asks.

"We could go swimming by the lake. Let's go get our swimming suits."

"Yeah," she smiles brightly. "We haven't been swimming in forever."

"I know, Prim," I say, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be," she says. "I know your busy with everything. And I'm busy too."

"I do love you Prim, so much." I say. "We're going to spend as much time together as possible before the Victory Tour."

"I was hoping you'd say that," she smiles as we head home to get our swimming suits.

After Prim and I spend a long day swimming by the lake I finally head home to Peeta with wet hair and sore feet.

"Hey, Kat," he smiles at me when I walk through the front door. "Where'd you go?"

"I picked Prim up from school and then we went swimming by the lake," I say. "What did _you_ do all day?"

"Just worked on the nursery," he smiles. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"Yes, I'm starving!" I exclaim.

"Your always starving," he teases.

"Our little Willow likes food," I say. "And I intend on spoiling her as much as I can before she's born."

He chuckles softly as he starts getting pots and pans out. "What about after she's born, your gonna stop spoiling her after that?"

"I intend to," I say. "I don't want her growing up thinking she can have whatever she wants all the time. She'll be just like a Capitol child if we give her that kind of treatment."

He smiles and makes his way to me. "You'll be a great mother," he says. "You already are."

"I am not," I say. "I'm just talking about basic parenting priniples."

"Yeah, basic principles that most people with money don't follow," he says. "And by doing that it makes you the best parent anyone could ask for."

"Your just saying that,"

"I am not," he says. "You'll be the most perfect, beautiful I've ever met."

"Well you have to say that, guy you're my husband."

"I do not have to say that," he says sternly but lovingly. How can someone mix those two emotions so perfect? Stern but loving. "I'm saying it because it's true. I'm saying it because you deserve to hear it. You're doing great with the pregnancy, you're already an amazing mother. Not to mention how amazing you are at being a wife. Now say it."

"Say what?"

"Say you're a terrific mother and an amazing wife."

"I'm not saying that," I say. "I hate lying."

"You won't be lying!" He says. "Now say it."

"No," I refuse.

"I won't start dinner until you say it." He threatens.

"You wouldn't dare!" I say, shocked. I need my dinner!

"Say it, if you want dinner,"

I huff, "I'm a terrific mother and an amazing wife."

"What did you say?" He teases.

"Peeta Mellark, will you stop messing around and make dinner already!"

"Say it, I couldn't hear you,"

"I'm a terrific mother and an amazing wife!" I say. "There, now _please_ make dinner!"

"Okay, I'll make you girls dinner now," he smiles widely.

"Thank you," I huff. "Now give me a kiss. I need it!" He plants a soft and quick kiss on my lips, making me want more. "That was nothing. Give me a real kiss!"

"I have to make dinner for my princesses," he teases me.

"Stop teasing me!"

"You're cute when you're mad," he chuckles but still comes over to me and finishes the kiss he started.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" I say when he breaks away.

"Not at all," he says, so close to me his breath trickles down my spine and makes me shiver. Before I know it I've placed my lips on his again.

"I love you," I tell him.

"I love you too," he says. "Always."

We kiss for a bit longer, neither of us wanting to stop, but eventually my hunger gets the better of me, especially after my hunger for him has been satisfied.

That night Peeta and I lay in bed until we both fall asleep in each other's arms. But soon my nightmares haunt me.

 _A young girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes stands in the middle of the meadow. The scene is beautiful. She is surrounded by daisies and dandelions as the wind softly blows her dress and the sun setting slowly in the background. She calls to me but I can't quite make out what she's saying. I move closer, inch by inch until I hear her screams._

 _"Mommy!" She screams to me. "Mommy, save me! Please mommy!"_

 _Her screams echo in my ears as I try to decipher what's going on. Is this my daughter? Why is she screaming for me? Is she hurt? What's wrong? That's when the wolves come out. No, not wolves, mutts. One has dark curly fur and brown eyes. Rue. Another has blonde hair and blue eyes. Peeta. Why is Peeta trying to kill our daughter?_

 _I try to move to save ths girl but my legs are stuck in the ground. I can't move, I can't yell. All I can do is listen to her screams as the mutts inch closer and closer to her and her screams becomd louder and louder. Then the mutts pounce one her, both Peeta and Rue taking bites out of her. My screams won't work, neither will my legs. But I keep trying to get to her._

 _"You don't get to be happy. I won't let you," President Snow's voice echoes through the meadow, going over the screams but not blocking them out._

 _Then the screams stop. The mutts are gone and Snow's voice is nowhere to be heard. Everything is silent. Except my cries._

 _The girl lies lifeless on the ground. There is no blood, no wounds, but she is no doubt dead. I run to her, my legs finally cooroperating. She stares at me, a blank dead stare, as I kneel beside her. Slowly, my fingers go over her eyes to shut them so she can rest in peace. I surround her body with daisies and suddenly she's not my little girl anymore. It's Rue._

I awaken with a jolt and then a scream. My voice finally comes back after it was lost in my nightmare.

"Ssh..." Peeta hushes me, holding me in his arms and stroking my hair. "It's okay, it wasn't real."

"But it felt real," I cry. "Why did it feel so real?"

"I don't know," he admits. "I don't know why it felt so real but it shouldn't have even had to happen. We've been through so much pain that oir minds can't help but sjpw us our worst fears. It's what Snow wants, for us to be scared and broken and we can't give him that pleasure. He put us in the arena to break us but we can't let him win. And it's not right. He shouldn't have the power to control our minds. But I promise you everything will be alright. I love you so much and I would never let anything happen to you or our little Willow. I promise you, everything will be alright. It wasn't real."

I stay silent. He has a way with words and though I am still crying, I feel a little better.

"It wasn't real, I promise you."

"I know," I cry. "I know it wasn't real but it felt so real. It was so real!"

"I know, I know," he says. After that he is quiet, he just holds me as I sob in his arms until I am ready to tell him of my nightmare. My sobbing slows and I start telling him every last detail of my nightmare. I leave out the part of him being a mutt, though. I could never find the guts to tell him that my mind thought up him killing our daughter.

"That would never happen, Katniss, I promise you." He assures me.

"But what if it does?" I ask. "What if she is reaped and then killed in the games. Killed by those stupid mutts or another tribute."

"There is a one in a million chance of her getting picked. She won't be reaped."

"That's exactly what I said to Prim," I say, my eyes start to tear up again. "Right before she was reaped."

"Willow has the slightest chance of being picked," he says. "But even then we'll train her how to survive, just like your dad did."

"But what if she gets a different terrain? It won't be the same one. We won't know which dome she'll be in!"

"Katniss, she won't be reaped. I know she won't."

"How can you be so sure?" I snap. "I was sure Prim wouldn't be reaped! I was so sure and then she does! If Willow is reaped I can't volunteer for her! I can't save her like I did for Prim and her blood will be on my hands! All because I was a terrible mother and just let her walk off to her death!"

"Calm down, Katniss, please." I didn't realize I was yelling. Or how loud it was. "I promise you nothing bad will happen. You wanna know why?"

"Why?" I ask, sniffling.

"Because I love you and I love our daughter so much that I truly don't believe the universe would be so cruel to inflict something like that on us. We've been through enough already, haven't we? Plus, the Capitol said after we win the games we get to live in peace. Sending our daughter into the arena wouldn't be very peaceful of the Capitol to do."

"Yeah," I say. "I guess you're right."

"Now why don't we go back to sleep. You and Willow both need to rest." He smiles at me and I smile back.

"Willow does seem pretty restless right now with all her kicking."

"I love you, Katniss and I love you, Willow," he says looking from my eyes to my stomach.

"We both love you too," I say. I lean in and kiss his lips softly before we both lie down and fall asleep while holding each other.

I hadn't realized it that night, but soon, a few years from now, I would come to realize that almost everything Peeta said that night was true. _Almost_.

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm gonna be honest, I've been typing for a long time so this authors note is going to be short.**

 **I love all you guys! Please review if you liked this chapter! Bye!!!**


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